Once again, Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna and Vice Mayor Yul Servo proved their genuine concern for their constituents when they rushed to the scene of fire incidents that hit two separate populous residential areas in Tondo over the weeekend which left at least 1,800 families homeless.
The city’s top two officials were personally on hand to oversee the situation and ensure that all concerned local government units are swiftly mobilized and the affected families are well taken care of.
Kudos to our lady mayor, Vice Mayor Servo as well as our city councilors and city officials led by social welfare department chief Re Fugoso and Arnel Angeles, head of the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (MDRRMO) for their quick and very organized response. The affected families were quickly evacuated, given basic needs such as meals,hygiene kits, blankets and partition tents, among others.
As of this writing, the budget for their financial assistance is already under process as this, according to Mayor Lacuna and Vice Mayor Servo, is the local government’s little way of showing the displaced residents that they have they support of the administration. The financial assistance is being given to all fire victims to somehow help them build their homes anew.
The Lacuna-Servo team were at the fire scene and the evacuation centers, bringing with them not just promises but solid help.
I was told that a candidate talked to the residents, bringing nothing but promises of help, when he could have easily brought at least bags of groceries which are way cheaper than the P20,000 he gave to each of the city’s 896 barangay chairmen at the height of typhoon ‘Carina.’
In addition to this, the said candidate, who had already been on a campaign mode way ahead of the filing of certificates of candidacy as set by the Comelec, also gave away P5,000 to thousands of barangay kagawads in Manila.
Imagine the numbers, considering that each barangay has about ten kagawads.
Easily, the sum of money given away just to ask for the said barangay officials to support his candidacy amounts to millions upon millions of pesos. It seems that the said candidate cares more for the votes that barangay officials can deliver than the plight of those who are left with nothing after their homes were razed by fire.
Can promises and dance moves feed these families or help them rebuild their houses?
This is what sets Mayor Honey and VM Yul apart. They do not provide entertainment. They provide concrete help and support.
They do not dish out mere promises. They deliver.
By the way, I was in talks with many chairmen and barangay kagawads who said that they just took the money he gave away but will not necessarily support his candidacy or even vote for him.
Manila, they say, should never be second fiddle to anyone seeking to run the city.
Again, this is where Mayor Honey bests her political rivals. Not only is she a true-blue Manilena who really lives in Manila.
She is also the kind of leader who will never, ever leave Manila and its residents for any ambition or hopes of gaining wider power and better enrichment.
As the saying goes, ‘bato-bato sa langit, ang tamaan ‘wag magalit.’
